Obama Admin Loses Battle to Force Bible Publisher to Obey HHS Mandate

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 16, 2015   |   7:02PM   |   Washington, DC

In a huge victory for pro-life advocates taking on the controversial HHS mandate, the Obama administration has lost in its attempt to force a Bible publisher to obey it. The victory comes during the same week in which another court told a group of Catholic nuns they would have to obey the pro-abortion mandate.

The mandate has generated massive opposition from pro-life groups because it forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.

The Obama administration opposed an order a judge gave temporarily stopping enforcement, arguing that Tyndale House Publishers isn’t religious enough for an exemption from the mandate, a component of ObamaCare that forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.

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Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Tyndale House Publishers say the Obama administration has now ultimately lost its case against the Bible publishing company.

A federal district court issued a permanent injunction Wednesday in favor of Tyndale House Publishers and its owners, who are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys. The injunction means the government cannot enforce the mandate against Tyndale House.

“Americans should be free to live and work according to their faith without fear of punishment by the government. That includes Bible publishers, who should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “In America, citizens have always had the freedom to believe, the freedom to express those beliefs, and the freedom to operate their businesses accordingly. The Supreme Court upheld that principle in its Conestoga/Hobby Lobby decision last year, and the district court has rightly done the same.”

ADF attorneys and allied attorneys represented Conestoga Wood Specialties in its victory at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tyndale House, based in Carol Stream, Ill., specifically objects to covering abortifacients. It is the world’s largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles, and digital media and directs 96.5 percent of its profits to religious non-profit causes worldwide. In May 2013, the Obama administration withdrew its appeal of a preliminary injunction that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued in the case, now known as Tyndale House Publishers v. Burwell.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys are also litigating numerous other lawsuits against the mandate.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Christian-run Hobby Lobby doesn’t have to obey the HHS mandate that is a part of Obamacare that requires businesses to pay for abortion causing drugs in their employee health care plans.

A December 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll shows Americans disagree with forcing companies like Hobby Lobby to obey the mandate.

“Half of voters now oppose a government requirement that employers provide health insurance with free contraceptives for their female employees,” Rasmussen reports.

The poll found: “The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters still believe businesses should be required by law to provide health insurance that covers all government-approved contraceptives for women without co-payments or other charges to the patient.

Fifty-one percent (51%) disagree and say employers should not be required to provide health insurance with this type of coverage. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.”

Another recent poll found 59 percent of Americans disagree with the mandate.

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